Powdered or dry ingredients are used in a variety of applications throughout numerous industries. The practice of accurately measuring and dispensing powdered products requires two essential steps. First, a precise quantity of the powdered ingredient must be collected. Second, the measured powder must be precisely delivered to a mixing area or container without spillage. To accomplish the first step, often a “dry” measuring container, cup or scoop is used that is sized to have a given volumetric capacity when filled up to its top edge or rim. To ensure a proper measurement, the powdered ingredient is “leveled” with the top edge of the cup. This is typically done by overfilling the cup with the powdered ingredient and then running a flat blade over the top edge of the measuring cup, thereby leveling the powdered contents and ensuring the volume of powder matches the capacity of the cup. Dispensing the measured powder is often haphazardly conducted by placing the cup over a mixing area and simply inverting the cup. As a result, the powder is generally transferred to the mixing area; however, significant spillage or clumping of the powder often occurs. Additionally, dispensing a measured ingredient in this way does not accommodate a targeted transfer of the powder into containers having small entry openings such as baby bottles, or the like.
It is desirable then, to produce a measuring and dispensing apparatus that precisely measures powdered ingredients and accurately dispenses those ingredients even into containers having narrow openings. Further, it is desirable that the measuring and dispensing apparatus deposit the powdered ingredients into the container uniformly, so as to avoid clumping of the powder.